Why Employer Branding is the Need of the Hour

Business Dictionary says that BRANDING is the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, aiming to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

Having said about branding, it is the Employer branding which is taking a center stage these days. Employer branding is the process of promoting a company, or an organization, as the employer of choice amongst a desired target. Employer branding connotes the standing of an employer to be able to attract, recruit and retain ideal employees.

Q: What do the employees value most about working in a particular company?

Q: Why do employees stay/leave a particular company?

Q: What are the pain areas of HR people?

Once the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is set and a company gets an answer to “why they have a great place to work” they can start with the further process: Process of Employer Branding

Research: The Company needs to understand what it offers in terms of value, as defined in the EVP, to current and prospective employees. Internal and external surveys can be conducted to have an understanding of what exactly the targeted candidates are looking for and what do they expect from their potential employer. The company should be aware of the value it offers.

Talent Sourcing: This phase requires a complete communication, marketing, and talent sourcing plan to make sure that the company is getting the right kind of talent aboard. In this step, the compatibility between a company and the candidate has to be sorted out supported by the marketing and communication strategies.

Tracking Performance: For effective employer brand promotion, constant tracking and measuring is required in order to make continuous improvements. It is necessary to evaluate EVP time and again as with the growth of the company, EVP shall be improved, enhanced and if required changed completely.

Often, one thinks that Why Employer Branding is important, so here’s the answer:

Benefits of employer branding

The employer branding is the need of the hour: In the given working scenario where fragmented workforces prevail, it can be challenging to recruit and retain employees. To overcome this tricky situation one definitely needs a consistent employer brand.

EB helps to find right kind of a talent: A compelling employer brand can help you identify, attract and retain the right people. When you have a consistent employee value proposition, it will only attract the people who will relate to it, and thus an upfront filtration will be done.

Helps in overall brand building: It’s an innovative and cost-effective way to build a brand as with every communication a company does as EB also talks about the brand in general. A great employer brand can help you stand out.

Employer brand can make the recruitment process easier: If the employer branding is successful, recruitment process becomes hassle-free. As interviewing people who are out of sync with your organization can be avoided. And you can use applications of people who “fit-in”.

People generally seek out great brands: Even when you don’t have the resources to offer traditional benefits or salaries, you can still attract likeminded people who will prefer to work for employers aligned with their own value set.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, an effective employer branding is the process leveraging market research and communications to achieve desirable brand perception. It is a very vital aspect of brand building exercises today, as no employee today wants to be recruited by a generic employer. It will be a catastrophic scenario, to be ambiguous in offerings to promising career seekers. Needless to say that ultimately the end purpose of employer branding is to stimulate business growth and achieve strategic business goals.